Because I've Got Projects, And I Don't Have A Ton Of Cash

We Sweat No More

There’s nothing quite like losing air conditioning in 98 degree weather with high humidity. When you are acclimated to the cool, and it is suddenly gone, it is horrible.

I know that not having it at all is horrible, too. I sympathize with folks in that situation, and have donated fans in the past. But not being used to heat and humidity at lower levels, makes it very difficult to deal with a sudden stifling situation. Like an Inuit suddenly transplanted to the Equator.

And so we were on Sunday morning. The unit apparently went out overnight, and at 7 am it was 83 degrees inside. Since it was 78 outside, we thought we’d be smart and open the windows. This I do not recommend when the humidity is ungodly.

And a HUGE thank-you to our neighbors for letting us use their fans for a few days. I can’t imagine the night without them.

We have a service plan with Burton, so they got a 7:30 Sunday wake up call. LOOOOONG story short: after two nights and two days on the Equator, and attempted repair, we needed a new unit after all. Of course. We were presented with some options.

Do nothing. Yeah, right.

Pay $900 for the motor repairs and pray. A definite option.

Pay $1,100 for the motor repairs and freon and hope it lasts till cooler temps. What we actually planned to do.

Pay for the repairs and upwards of $2,000 to repair the freon leak and hope the unit lasts a long time. Well, it’s 22 years old already.

Get a new AC system for even more thousands. What we planned to do in the spring.

None of these options was really ideal. But we deal with issues in life, and this was a big decision. Then I learned that there are end of season discounts, and that Burton offers 18 months same as cash financing for a limited time. Burton would credit the amount for the repairs, too, because of issues in the long story version.

Guess which option we chose?

It’s a beaut! We did not need a furnace, nor a thermostat. We will have it paid within 18 months. It would have been more difficult to pay for a new unit without discounts or this financing next spring. The old unit would not have lasted 18 months, and the new unit has a 10 year warranty, which is helpful.

No, we didn’t expect this at this moment. No, this wasn’t a sales ploy, but a solution to our situation. We knew the purchase was coming, and soon. With so many things plaguing our finances lately, this was a Godsend.

They needed a few hours to remove and replace, and I so appreciated the fans. It took several hours to cool the house after the air was finally back on late Monday. We’ve returned the fans, and returned to our regularly scheduled routine.

Today we will sweat much less. We’ve learned that the temp can be higher and we can still survive, so the thermostat is now set a few degrees higher.

Today I am grateful for:

Energy-efficient air-conditioning.

Awesome next-door neighbors, who are comfortable enough to ask to borrow our shop vac, then turn around and lend us fans a few hours later.

Finding the FB page for my son’s BCT company at Ft. Jackson, SC, so we can keep up to speed on important stuff.

Learning from that FB page how to correctly address his mail so he receives it!